The information that is gathered on the sites finds uses in many different things that most of us find useful. Not only to use the certain site alone and see how the trends are going, but using this information you can create something that will be great for everyone. When it comes to mining and scraping the things that are saved on the server, many people are matching those things together, even though there are differences between them.
Other than what they do, there is also a side to this story, whether you are allowed to do this, and if you are using the things that you have collected properly, or for a cause that is great for everyone. Some firms are okay with you doing this, and some don’t want this to happen so they include some ways to protect themselves from it.
To have a clearer vision of what method is suitable for a certain project that you want to get involved in, we have made this article to show what these methods actually are, and what differs one from another.
Source: Pinterest.com
Contents
Web scraping explanation
This is a technique used to gather and collect information from a certain site. You can do this by yourself, but that won’t be efficient at all which is why it is better to resort to special programs dedicated for web scraping as suggested by datamam.com. When it comes to what you collect, you are able to gather everything, however, some of the firms are not comfortable with that so you have to consider these things when you plan on doing this.
How can you perform this
Those special programs mentioned above work in a principle where you select or give it an address, and it begins scraping, but you have to consider that you need storage for that, so you have to be prepared.
There are different programs that you can use, and everyone offers different options that you can choose from. So, when choosing one for your project, make sure to pick the one that offers all the right features.
Source: learntek.org
Are you allowed to do that
When you plan on doing web scraping, you should be careful and do it with a sense. If you overdo it, you might cause problems and you can ruin the experience of other users trying to get suited to the things that the site offers. That way, if the admin notices, they might forbid you to ever accessing this place even though you were just doing your job.
If the firm does not want you to do web scraping, they can state that and they can use certain tools to protect themselves from it, especially for confidential information.
When we talk about allowance, you can do this without getting in trouble, however, you should only do this with things that can be accessed anyways, so you don’t cause any problems and you can still do your project.
What are the uses
Depending on what are your intentions, you should know this thing before you start. The things that you gather from the address using the program can help you in developing a project that can be found helpful by many. For example, this is mostly used for apps where you have a comparison of things or when you need to have more information about specific things which should be collected this way.
Let’s say you plan on developing an app that shows events that are close to the person who is using the program. You should be able to bring this information to them using this method so you gather events that are near them from the places where they will be held, and you can offer them info to know where they can get an entry from. You can use it to find the cheapest options so they can save some more because of you. This is just an example to help you understand how can these things be used.
Source: velog.io
Data mining explanation
This is a method that is used to process the things that you have gathered to understand how things are going or to get an understanding of things that might be going on. This can be done in a similar way like the previous technique, however, it is mostly collected using information that the users are giving on their own, whether they fill up questioners, or they allow the site to save the things that they look for so they can have a better view on the situation in the future.
How can you perform this
We have seen that this can be done using the things that the users give on their own, so they can help you improve some things. All the information collected from them is being separated into groups for better organization, read, and processed so you can get a conclusion on it.
Are you allowed to do that
Similar to the method above, you should be able to get only the things that are accessible to you, or put out so they can be collected to learn things for better functioning. However, you should not use them for bad connotations. When you come up with a report of the whole analysis, make sure that you state where did you get these things from so you can protect yourself.
Source: freecodecamp.org
What are the uses
Unlike the previous method where you gather information to come up with something new, this is meant to use the things that you collect. For example, if you are running a site where you sell things, you should use this to understand what are the things that make you no benefit, and remove them from the list in the future, and focus more on the things that are beneficial to you and your firm.
Conclusion
We have explained what both of these methods do, and where you can use them, so the difference can be noticed. The first one is used to gather things to make something else, and the second one is used to understand why certain things happen, and ways that you can improve. The other differences are in gaining these things for the sites. After this article, you should know what method is the best for your firm, or the project that you are in.
